06 November 2011

With some very warm weather during October, summer almost seemed to have been making a comeback in southern California. But this weekend, with rain and cold coming through the state, it feels like Fall is finally settling in. And when chilly weather comes, there's often nothing nicer than cooking with fragrant spices like ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Spiced Pumpkin Cake, orGewürzter Kürbiskuchen, came into being as a result of my recent pumpkin mode intersecting with dreams of last month's Zwetschgenkuchen (Italian Prune Plum Cake). I love the super dense cake base--almost verges on what you might call a crust--that my Opa's recipe yields, and though the fresh prune plum filling is an absolute classic, I think my Spiced Pumpkin Cake, containing creamy pumpkin custard and a spicy candied ginger-pecan streusel, is perfect for this time of year.

This recipe makes more than my family and I can eat in one weekend, so I've frozen away a lot of it for enjoyment in the coming weeks. And cutting up the cake into individual servings before freezing makes it super easy to pull out a piece any time I want a nice sweet snack. I have come to love eating it still partially frozen--the pumpkin custard makes this cake just like an ice cream sandwich treat!

Gewürzter KürbiskuchenAdapted from Gerhard Sommermann

150 g (11 Tbs.) butter, room-temperature

170g (¾ cup plus 2 Tbs.) sugar

1 egg, room temperature

400g (3 cups sifted) flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. salt

100ml (scant ½ cup) milk, room temperature

Cream butter and sugar, then add the egg and beat until smooth. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt and incorporate into creamed mixture, along with the milk. Dough keeps 1 week in the refrigerator. Spread dough into the bottom of an ungreased 11 x 17 –inch cake pan. To build the sides of the cake, push the dough up the sides of the pan and create a ¼ -inch rim.

Spread pumpkin filling over top and then sprinkle with Spiced Streusel. Bake at 350°F for 45-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream that has been sweetened with vanilla and sugar.

Pumpkin Filling

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

1 cup drained candied yams (or sweet potatoes)

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. fine-grained salt

For the pumpkin filling, blend together the sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and vanilla. In a the large bowl of a food processor, combine the pumpkin puree, yams, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and blend until it forms a smooth mixture. With the processor running, add the condensed milk mixture in a slow stream and process until fully incorporated.

...So you have to have an account with this server to post a comment!!!Anyway, what was I saying before my comment was rejected for the 1000th time? Oh, your site looks amazing. That pumpkin pie looks so good, it makes my mouth waters. Consider that a very high compliment -- since my morning sickness started, it's been a month and a half since I see a dessert dish and actually want to eat the whole thing!

Totally blanked on leaving a name! Thanks for the reply, and I agree with you. I am planning to make these for a bake sale at my brother's work and I think my crinkly round cutter will be lovely (hopefully it works!)

Hi Yosha! A round cutter would be nice, but I would be careful about using a crinkly-edged one, as it's possible the streusel topping might not fare too well with all the extra zig-zag on the edge of the cut. Maybe experiment with a safe corner of the cake first? Let me know how it works out; I'd love to hear back from you! :)

i've been meaning to update you on these. The cakes were fabulous! For a bit there I wasn't sure I'd have enough for the bake sale with everyone nibbling at it. I cut it into pieces while still hot and the crinkle cutter worked w/o a an issue, but overall it didn't really make a difference though. I had some issues with the layering so my layers didn't show up as nice as yours. I also added a rum glaze to it, I meant to add rum to the filling and forgot so made up with a glaze. All in all in tasted fantastic, but presentation could have used some more work!

I've posted some not so brilliant pics here...http://in-my-moments.blogspot.com/2011/12/now-that-i-am-home-and-have-been-for-2.html